Steve Jobs was open to an iPad mini, internal email reveals

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Internal emails among Apple staff have been made public during the manufacturer’s patency trial with Samsung, and they suggest former CEO Steve Jobs was open to the idea of an iPad mini after all.

It’s long been thought that Jobs, who died in October 2011, was against the idea of making a smaller seven-inch iPad, having publicly said as much and his reluctance was largely the reason why no such device was made.

However, with Apple finally expected to reveal an iPad mini later this year, an email from Eddy Cue to other Apple executives suggests Jobs was considering the seven-inch tablet market.

Cue’s email, sent to - among others -current CEO Tim Cook said: “Having used a Samsung Galaxy [Tab], I tend to agree with many of the comments below… I believe there will be a 7-inch market and we should do one. I expressed this to Steve several times since Thanksgiving and he seemed very receptive the last time.”

Of course receptive is not the same as giving something the green light, but perhaps an iPad mini won’t be too far a diversion from Jobs’s vision for Apple.